Left parties in Dharwad demand CEC's removal, halt to SIR of electoral rolls
CPI(M), CPI and SUCI (Communist) members protested outside the Dharwad Deputy Commissioner's office, demanding CEC Gyanesh Kumar's removal and a halt to the SIR.
Members of the CPI(M), the CPI and the SUCI (Communist) staged a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner's office in Dharwad on Friday, demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and an immediate halt to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The parties handed over a memorandum addressed to the President through the Deputy Commissioner. In it, they sought the restoration of voting rights for people they say were wrongly struck off the rolls, along with steps to rebuild public confidence in the Election Commission of India.
The protest came in the wake of a media report on September 23 stating that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, had recorded objections on 14 occasions over a 10-month period. Those objections concerned decisions on voter registration, deletion and restoration of names, as well as aspects of the SIR exercise.
The Left parties said these reported objections cast doubt on how the Election Commission functions and on its transparency. They also argued that the growing centralisation of electoral data, combined with curbs on access for officials at the State and constituency levels, could undermine the transparency of electoral roll management.
The parties cited a report about 97 voters in Goa whose eligibility had been assessed by election officials but whose decisions could not be entered into the system owing to software-related restrictions.
Their demands included Mr. Kumar's removal from office, stopping the SIR process, and restoring the voting rights of eligible persons who had been wrongly excluded from the rolls.
They further called for measures to guarantee the independent functioning of the Election Commission and for changes to the existing mechanism for appointing Election Commissioners. They proposed a selection process involving the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
CPI(M) district secretary Mahesh Pattar, SUCI (Communist) leader Gangadhar Badiger, CPI leader Bashir Mudhol, social activists Rajendra Poddar and Basavaraj Sulibhavi, and other Left party leaders took part in the protest.